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BOSTON — LF Travis Snider drove in the Jays lone run with a single to right on Saturday. The RBI was his 10th of the season, tops on the team. Snider also stole two bases in the second inning giving him five for the season, tied for the team lead with 2B Aaron Hill, who had one stolen base in the game. That leaves Snider just one stolen base shy of his career high of six set last season. Hill’s career high in stolen bases also is six. It’s part of manager John Farrell’s style of play. Snider, by the way, is hitting just .170 on the season (8-for-47).

GOOD REVIEWS

It was the first major-league appearance for lefty Luis Perez when he came into the game in the seventh with two on and two out to face Jacoby Ellsbury. He retired Ellsbury on a grounder to third, then allowed an infield single against two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth.

“Very good,” Farrell said of his impression. “He didn’t fear the zone, didn’t fear contact. For a left-hander with low 90s type of stuff, he did a very good job.”

SECOND COMING

CF Corey Patterson was robbed of a base hit in the eighth when Boston 1B Adrian Gonzalez made a slick fielding play on a hot shot up the line. The notable thing about the at-bat was that Patterson was facing Daniel Bard, the hard-throwing right-hander who hit Patterson in the back of the head during spring training, leaving him with a head contusion. “No, not really,” Patterson said when asked if he had any thoughts when he walked into the box. “Same as always ... No flashbacks, there was nothing like that.”

GETTING BETTER

Closer to be Frank Francisco took a positive step Friday night as he threw a scoreless 1 1/3 innings in a game with class-A Dunedin. He didn’t allow a hit, walked one and struck out three. “He was much more efficient and he continues to feel improved with each outing,” manager John Farrell said. “The life and the crispness and the overall quality of the strikes was much improved over the previous outings that he’s had. We’ll have an internal discussion today on what the next step will be for him.” Farrell added that his velocity was back to 92-93 (m.p.h.), another good sign. Look for Francisco to rejoin the Jays when they head home and open a two-game series against the Yankees beginning Tuesday.